BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Officials from the City-Parish and DOTD will break ground on the Essen Lane Widening Project on Thursday.

The City-Parish and DOTD are partnering up in an effort to help relieve traffic congestion and accommodate the growth along Essen Lane.

Essen Lane at Interstate 10 currently experiences a lot of congestion during peak driving periods due to the large number of motorists entering and exiting the interstate there.

The expansion involves two separate projects. One project will be overseen by the City-Parish through the Green Light Plan. The other project from the DOTD will be done to reduce the congestion that already occurs. Because the two projects overlap, the City-Parish, Project Green Light Plan, DOTD and area stakeholders will continue to closely coordinate on the project.

Some officials that will be on hand for the ground breaking ceremony will be Mayor Kip Holden, Green Light Plan Director Michael Songy and Sherri H. LeBas of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

The ceremony is set to begin at 10 a.m. at the Burden Museum and Gardens.